Glossines with Benefits

" 'Well, let's have a benefit show for you!' -- that's what everybody was saying," relates Glossines singer-bassist Amber Everson. The native San Diegan needs surgery to remove a polyp from her vocal cords as quickly as possible to prevent further, permanent voice damage. She is uninsured.

"It's hard for me to ask, but, then I considered how many benefits the Glossines have played [through seven years together]...'you're having a benefit in your bathroom for an ingrown toenail? We're there!' "

Everson's problems began in late August, when she went hoarse after the second show of a two-week West Coast tour. Resting her voice on days off didn't help.

"As time went on, it got really raspy, really Kim Carnes," says Everson. With no improvement weeks after the tour, she went to a clinic, then was directed to another... The diagnosis process culminated when a laryngologist at the UCSD Voice Disorders Clinic "...could clearly see on a screen the polyp on one cord -- like a blister -- which was rubbing and forming a growing callus on another cord.... The doctor said there was no alternative to surgery, no chance it would go away...."

The surgery's cost is $7000, money required up front. Bunky, Kill Me Tomorrow, the Heartaches, Widows, and Nightmares are the SD acts scheduled to perform January 8 at the Casbah. Clothes items (Glossines underwear!) and baked goods will be on sale.